The Joys of Motherhood

• Writer: Buchi Emecheta, a Nigerian female writer

• Characters:
1. Nwakusor, an Ibo man
2. Nnu Ego, an Ibo girl, Agbadi’s daughter, Nnaife’s wife
3. A driver of a kia-kia (quick quick) bus
4. Some Yoruba men
5. Another Ibo woman

• A Short Plot Summary: One morning in Lagos, Nwakusor, an Ibo man, while returning from his work to his home, sees a girl trying to commit suicide by drowning while some men are trying to stop her. When he recognizes her to be Nnu Ego, a girl from his own village, he runs to stop her and chides her for shaming her womanhood and motherhood. Only when Nnu Ego declares that her child is dead and points it lying on the mat, everybody understands her suffering and the reason for trying to kill herself. (In their African culture, a childless woman is deemed as a failure.) Many people console and advise her, and finally, Nwakusor leads her home to her husband Nnaife.

• (I haven’t provided a detailed summary due to lack of time.)

• Theme: Victimization of Ibo women by their culture’s attitudes to motherhood, which deem a childless woman a failure